MSNBC’s Wolffe: ‘Experiment of Democracy in Mideast Best Demonstrated by Hamas in Gaza’
February 9, 2011 No Comment
MSNBC political analyst Richard Wolffe on Tuesday said, “The experiment of democracy, of untrammeled democracy inside the Middle East is most clearly demonstrated by the Palestinian authority with Hamas taking power in the Gaza strip.” Such transpired in the same lengthy “Hardball” segment wherein Chris Matthews called Sarah Palin “a cuckoo clock” and Newt Gingrich “a mortal enemy to our civilization” (video follows with transcript and commentary): RICHARD WOLFFE, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: And Chris, there’s a third came here, which I think Senator Graham kind of represents here, which is conservative opinion, which is more realpolitik, more realistic in saying, Let’s deal with the world as it is out there. And there’s that tension that played out between the conservatives and the neo-cons through the Bush years. What’s remarkable is seeing the sort of conspiracy side of this take ahold Newt Gingrich who is a self-styled historian or student of history, making some of the same kind of mistakes. You cannot see this region, never mind the rest of the world, purely in terms of the post-9/11 American political framework. You cannot just project out everything from the Bush era. And if you are, at least going to study the Bush era properly. I mean, the experiment of democracy, of untrammeled democracy inside the Middle East is most clearly demonstrated by the Palestinian authority with Hamas taking power in the Gaza strip. For those unfamiliar with the term, untrammeled means “not limited or restricted; unrestrained.” If that's how Wolffe sees Gaza at this point, it is him making political and historical mistakes, for Hamas has been preventing new elections in Gaza that could result in it being tossed out. As Commentary's Noah Pollak wrote in October 2009: [One man, one vote, one time] is the oft-repeated formulation that describes the problem with the participation of Islamist and terrorist groups in elections. They pretend to be committed to democratic politics so long as democratic politics provide a vehicle for them to take power. But the moment elections no longer favor them, they no longer favor elections. This has been the case in Gaza since Hamas took over. As the New York Times reported Tuesday: The Palestinian Authority announced on Tuesday that it would hold delayed local elections on July 9. The vote was originally scheduled for last summer, but it was postponed by disagreements over candidates within the Fatah movement…Elections were supposed to be held in both the West Bank and Gaza, but Hamas, which rules in Gaza, has said it would not allow them to take place. No election has been held in either territory since 2006. According to the Jerusalem Post, Hamas is still preventing these elections to occur in Gaza: The Palestinian Authority announced on Tuesday that it plans to hold municipal elections on July 9. Hamas responded by declaring that it won’t allow the vote to take place in the Gaza Strip…Hamas’s decision to boycott the elections means that they would take place only in the West Bank. Is this what Wolffe considers “untrammeled democracy” – when the party in power is preventing elections?
Continue reading …I missed posting this back in January, but it’s too funny not to. Stephen Colbert is warning us about the Threat Down from Sharia law and Muslim treats which may take over America. Ahhhhhhh…. Hannity: …the fears that Sharia law is creeping into the United States Steyn: There is something called “Creeping Sharia” Malkin: Are you familiar with the phrase “Sharia Creep?” Could Sharia law be creeping into everyday American life hidden inside a sandwich? Colbert: That’s right, a sandwich of death. Threat number three is radical Muslim snacks. Robertson: Halal is prepared according to the rules of Sharia law.. The only creeps in this clip are the wingnuts. Colbert is on a brilliant run and his writers need to be commended. Now pass me some Filet al Fish .
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Al Jazeera speaks to Mona Seif, one of the protesters gathered infront of the parliament building in the Egyptian capital Cairo, calling for a dissolution of the assembly:
Continue reading …Thanks to the Tea Party, today’s vote to extend the Patriot Act failed to pass. It had been introduced on the suspension calendar and needed 2/3rds to pass. When the Tea Party bloc broke with Republicans, there weren’t sufficient votes to pass it. It is expected to be reintroduced on the regular calendar next week and brought up for a vote again, this time with only a majority needed for it to pass, but with opportunities for longer debate and amendments.
Continue reading …Chris Matthews Calls Palin ‘A Cuckoo Clock’ and Gingrich ‘A Mortal Enemy to Our Civilization’
February 9, 2011 No Comment
Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey said Monday that MSNBC's Chris Matthews “seems to be slipping out of touch with reality.” On Tuesday, the “Hardball” host proved Armey's point by calling Sarah Palin “a cuckoo clock” and Newt Gingrich “a mortal enemy to our civilization” (video follows with transcript and commentary): CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Let’s start with the conservative split, first time I’ve seen one in years. Richard Wolffe’s an MSNBC political analyst and Ben Smith is national political reporter for Politico. Richard, I want you to take a look at some of these clips. We got Gingrich. We got Beck. We got Kristol. We got Palin. And we got Lindsey Graham. Let’s take a look at, first of all, Newt Gingrich. He says he doesn’t support — he said the United States shouldn’t support the Muslim Brotherhood or talking with them, in fact. Here’s what he told CNN. Let’s listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NEWT GINGRICH (R-GA), FMR. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE, FOX CONTRIBUTOR: Secretary Clinton apparently said that we wanted to reach out to the Muslim Brotherhood. I think this is absolute total misreading of history. The Muslim Brotherhood is a mortal enemy of our civilization. They say so openly. Their slogan says so openly. Their way is jihad. Their method is death. For us to encourage in any way the inclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood is fundamentally wrong. (END VIDEO CLIP) MATTHEWS: I think if you look closely at Newt Gingrich, you see a mortal enemy to our civilization. Nice equivalence. Because Gingrich called the group that assassinated former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat a mortal enemy to our civilization, Matthews felt it's appropriate to similarly refer to a former Speaker of the House. Getting Armey's point? But there was more: MATTHEWS: Here’s Glenn Beck last Thursday on the radio. Let’s listen to his thoughts. (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP) GLENN BECK, HOST, FOX NEWS “GLENN BECK”: I want the left to know I plant my flag in this soil. Groups from the hard-core socialist and communist left and extreme Islam will work together because they are both a common enemy of Israel and the Jew. Islam wants caliphate. Communists want a communist new world order. They’ll work together and they’ll destabilize because they both want chaos. (END AUDIO CLIP) MATTHEWS: And he’s the same person out there saying that the two President Bushes, in the way they directed our bombing campaigns in the two Iraq wars, were really working with this new Muslim world order. Actually, that's not what Beck said last Tuesday. Here's the actual quote: BECK: There's one place that we told our bombers not to bomb. Does anybody know what it was? Two wars in Iraq. We said no bombing there. Ancient Babylon. Ancient Babylon. Why? Because the Bible tells us that that is the seat — right here — of power of a global, evil empire. From those few sentences, Matthews concluded that Beck was saying that both Presidents Bush were working with a new Muslim order. Is that what you take away from those 52 words, or is Armey's point really sinking in? But Matthews wasn't nearly done cherry-picking: MATTHEWS: Bill Kristol, by the way, knocked conservatives who are supporting Mubarak. Here’s what he said on “MORNING JOE” today. Let’s listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BILL KRISTOL, “WEEKLY STANDARD”: I don’t think conservatives or Americans in general should be on the side of dictators against what seems to be a genuine democratic protest. (END VIDEO CLIP) Kristol spoke with the “Morning Joe” crew about Beck for three minutes, and had far more to say on this issue than the 24 words Matthews and Company cherry-picked: But here was possibly the coup de grace: MATTHEWS: Well, let’s take a look. Here’s Sarah Palin, to get the full look at this. She took a swipe at President Obama’s handling of Egypt. Let’s listen to her, Palin. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SARAH PALIN (R-AK), FMR. GOV., FOX CONTRIBUTOR: It’s a difficult situation. This is that 3:00 AM White House phone call, and it seems for many of us trying to get that information from our leader in the White House — it seems that that call went right to the answering machine. And nobody yet has — nobody yet has explained to the American public what they know. And surely they know more than the rest of us know who it is who will be taking the place of Mubarak. (END VIDEO CLIP) MATTHEWS: She talks like a cuckoo clock. In fact, I think when she gets that Sarah Palin named patented, that’s what she should sell, cuckoo clocks with her coming out every hour or half hour. To sum up, Matthews on Tuesday called a former Speaker of the House of Representatives “a mortal enemy to our civilization,” and a former Vice Presidential candidate a “cuckoo clock.” I don't know about you, but Armey seemed spot on Monday.
Continue reading …Google executive Wael Ghonim was released after being taken hostage by the Egyptian government on January 28th. He gave an interview to DREAM TV shortly after his release. It was in Arabic, but Twitter user SultanAlQassemi live-tweeted it as it was going on. To say it was emotional would be understating it. Part One is above. Part 2 is below, and a rough transcript below that, courtesy of Al-Jazeera TV . “I tricked my employer so I could attend the protests in Egypt. I am not a traitor. I don’t need anything from anyone. “I am not a hero. I was only used the keyboard, the real heroes are the ones on the ground. Those I can’t name. This is the season where people use the word traitor against each other. I wasn’t abused, I was jailed, kidnapped. I met some really intellectual people in jail, they actually thought that we were traitors, working for others. “If I was a traitor I would have stayed by the swimming pool in my house in the UAE. “What are called the “facebook youth” went out in their tens of thousands on January 25th, talk to them. This is the era where people who have good intentions are considered traitors. “My wife was going to divorce me because I didn’t spend time with her, and now they call me a traitor. I spent all my time on the computer working for my country. I wasn’t optimistic on the 25th but now I can’t believe it. Thanks to everyone who tried to get me out of jail. It’s Haram [sinful, not right] for my father to lose his sight in one eye and now is at risk of losing it in the other. I kept thinking “are people thinking of me?” I was wondering if my family knew where I was, my wife, dad, mother. “I am proud of what I did. This is not the time to settle scores. Although I have people I want to settle scores with myself. This is not the time to split the pie and enforce ideologies. The secret to the success of the facebook page was use of surveys. “I met with the Minister of Interior today. He was sat like any other citizen. He spoke to me like an equal. I respected that. The youth on the streets made Dr Hossam Badrawi [General Secretary of NDP] drive me to my house today. They transfered me to state security, it’s a kidnapping. On Thursday night, at 1am I was with a friend, a colleague from work. I was taking a taxi, suddenly four people surrounded the car, I yelled “Help me, Help me” I was blindfolded then taken away. I will say this as it is: nothing justifies kidnapping, you can arrest me by the law, I am not a drug dealer or terrorist. “I nside I met people who loved Egypt [State Security people] but their methods & mine are not the same. I pay these guys salaries from my taxes, I have the right to ask the ministers where my money is going, this is our country. I believe that if things get better those (good state security people he met) will serve Egypt well. Don’t stand in our way, we are going to serve Egypt. I saw a film director get slapped, they told him “You will die here” Why? “Now they want to have an agreement with me when they are in a position of weakness. I am not a hero, I am a normal person. What happened to me was a crime but I still thank those who tried to got me out, I am an educated person, I have a family. Badrawi told me we took all the bad people out from the NDP. I told him I don’t want to see the logo of the NDP ever again. The NDP is got this country to where it is. You can create a new party. It looks like I might be kidnapped again after this. “There were 300 fake registrations on my facebook page, all negative comments, about how we were allegedly being paid. I was the admin of the page but others paid for it. We are dreamers [says it in English]. There was no Muslim Brotherhood presence in organising these protests, it was all spontaneous, voluntary. Even when the Muslim Brotherhood decided to take part it was their choice to do so. This belongs to Egyptian youth. “Please everyone, enough rumours. Enough.” “I told the Interior Minister – I was upset – I told him I will go in the car with Hossam Badrawi but without an NDP logo. I told them we don’t want any NDP logo on the streets. I cried when I heard that there are people who died, officers and protesters, this is my country. “I was chatting with Ahmad Maher of 6th of April Youth Movement about the Jan 25 protests but he didn’t know who I was. My wife is an American, I can apply for US citizenship but I didn’t, not even the lottery. Many people want to leave though. We have to restore dignity to all Egyptians. We have to end corruption. No more theft. Egyptians are good people. We are a beautiful people. Please everybody, this is not a time to settle scores, this is a time to build our country. “I can’t claim I know what happened when I was inside. I didn’t know anything until one day before I left. The interrogators wanted to know if outsiders were involved. I convinced them this was a purely Egyptian movement. The treatment was very good, they knew I was a good Egyptian. I was blindfolded for 12 days, I didn’t see their faces. They wanted details, information. “Are the people who planned this outsiders?” We didn’t do anything wrong, this was an appeal. “I wrote an appeal to the president Egypt on Jan 25. I told the Minister of Interior we have two problems 1- We don’t talk to each other, this must be solved, 2- There is no trust. I told the Interior Minister if I stripped naked & told people that I was beaten even without marks they would believe me. The Egyptian State TV channels didn’t portray the truth, that is why people watch the private channels now. “There were several men in the room with me & the Minister of Interior. I asked him if I can speak about this he said as u wish. Everyone asked me “How did you do this?” The Interior Minister told me he was only a minister for 8 days. I was told that people died, one day before I was released,” he said.
Continue reading …Rush Limbaugh Advises Fox To Ignore Keith ‘Olberdork’ Now That He’s Partnered With Gore
February 9, 2011 No Comment
Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh on Tuesday gave some advice to Fox News about how to treat Keith Olbermann now that he's partnered with Al Gore's struggling cable network. “Do not ever talk about what goes on over there and nobody will ever hear about it” (video follows with transcript and commentary): RUSH LIMBAUGH: By the way, Keith Olberdork who left MSNBC is going to Algore's cable channel, Current TV, where — (interruption) Yeah, it's still on, and I just have one piece of advice for the people at Fox. Do not ever talk about what goes on over there and nobody will ever hear about it. Olbermann wouldn't be anything today if they hadn't decided to start picking fights with those people over there. That network wouldn't have half the audience as it does now. Anyway, the Chinese opera format was not working at Current TV, the global warming stuff just hadn't caught hold so now they're all-in with Olberdork as the political director and primetime talent at Algore's cable channel. Trust me, ladies and gentlemen, as a highly trained broadcast specialist, this is a move that under normal circumstances you wouldn't publicize and you would frankly hope nobody ever heard about. But the word's out. … Indeed. Many analysts believe that Olbermann's decision to attack Bill O'Reilly worked for it antagonized the Fox star enough for him to return fire thereby drawing attention to the “Countdown” host and drive ratings. MSNBC viewers may have noticed that since Olbermann's departure, his former colleagues have been paying a great deal of attention to Glenn Beck, in particular Chris Matthews whose “Hardball” program initially airs at 5PM opposite the current object of his disaffection. Including Tuesday's program, Matthews has attacked Beck for seven straight days. With this in mind, maybe it's best for all conservatives to heed Limbaugh's advice and let Olbermann fade away as quickly as possible, for without our negative reviews, he mightn't get any press at all. Something to consider. (H/T Jeff Poor )
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Two protesters scale the main gate at Egypt’s parliament building on Tuesday night, erecting a sign that says: “Sorry.. Closed until the downfall of the regime.” Hundreds of protesters began gathering at the parliament building as a result of the overflow crowd in central Cairo’s Tahrir Square, and to expand the reach of the demonstrations.
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Al Jazeera’s correspondent, reporting from Cairo, says the current situation has “quietened down considerably”. Here’s the latest update from our correspondent on the ground in Egypt.
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